A MULTI-MILLION pound programme to treat hundreds of breast cancer patients a year with the life-saving drug Herceptin is about to be set up in Merseyside and Cheshire.

Up to 400 patients every year will be suitable for the treatment, costing the NHS up to £11m, it was revealed last night.

Screening for eligibility for the treatment is set to start in January while a licence for the drug is expected to be fast-tracked by March.

News of Herceptin being made available in the region came as one mother from Staffordshire, where the drug has been piloted on the NHS, won her battle to be given the drug by her Primary Care Trust.

She was refused the treatment on the grounds that it cost too much, even though it had been recommended by her doctor.

Martin Stanley, commissioning manager for Cheshire and Merseyside's specialist commissioning services, said Herceptin will be available for all patients who are eligible for treatment and will benefit from it.

He said: "We have an open policy here in Cheshire and Merseyside. It does not matter about the cost, if people need it they should have it.

"We are currently working on the implementation plan on behalf of all the PCTs. We are looking at the number of people who are likely to need the drug. "We are also taking into account all the extra things that will be needed, such as extra nurses and pharmacists to name but a few."

Women who are tested positive for Her, a protein which is present in some tumours, are sometimes at more risk of their tumour recurring.

About 25% of breast cancer patients in the region will be Her2 positive, meaning they will be eligible for Herceptin, which is designed to reduce that risk.

Patients with heart disease would not be eligible for the drug as this is one of its side effects.

Last night, Elaine Barber, a mother of four who was refused Herceptin, said she was "over the moon" after her local PCT changed its mind and agreed to give her the treatment.

Mrs Barber, from Stoke-on-Trent, found out on Tuesday that she was not going to be given the drug, despite a recommendation from her doctor.

The North Stoke PCT turned down her request on the grounds of resources and said there was a lack of current evidence supporting the long-term efficacy of the drug.

But when her lawyer applied to the High Court for an urgent hearing of the case, the trust backtracked and granted the medication.

Ms Barber, who contracted cancer in August last year but is currently in remission, said: "I am absolutely over the moon.

"I hope now that the very many women like me who just want to be given the chance to live will also be given funding for the drug treatment."

The case angered Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, who had already said that the decision to provide Herceptin should be made on medical, not cost grounds.

She had announced that Herceptin would be "fast-tracked" for use in the NHS across the country.

Ms Hewitt said: "I accept that some Trusts are under financial pressure and may have to make difficult trade-off .